News from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation –Winter 2025
Welcome to the new year.
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is pleased to share the Winter 2025 edition of Accreditation Central with your leadership, faculty, and staff members. CHEA/CIQG supports you—our members—in higher education accreditation. CHEA's unwavering commitment is to serving members, students, and society through the support of institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and quality in higher education.
President’s Update – A New Year, New Beginnings and New Opportunities
Cynthia Jackson Hammond, Ed.D.
President
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
January is the month that many begin to think about new beginnings, resolutions, decisions, and even new opportunities. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is no different in that regard. It is also our time for renewal and recommitment to principles of quality assurance and student success! Every CHEA-accredited institution commits to being better than the year before and being able to provide evidence to families and the public that students are receiving quality academic preparation for their chosen careers.
Over the past year, CHEA has continued to advocate for institutions by examining public policies on accreditation, talking with federal and state legislators about institutional independence and academic freedom, and collaborating with influencers who are also committed to safeguarding higher education and its core values.
CHEA-Recognized accrediting organizations provide dedicated support to institutions. Through CHEA’s Standards, these accrediting organizations commit to academic quality and student achievement, accountability and transparency, organizational integrity, and international accreditation capacity and compliance. Quality assurance through accreditation is a continuous process, and CHEA’s accredited organizations at the institutional and program levels are highly competent and act with the purpose of identifying evidential institutional outcomes to the public domain.
Not every accrediting organization is committed to this purpose nor is every accrediting organization willing to be recognized by CHEA. But those that represent organizations that are innovative, professional, ethical, and competent. Together with these organizations, CHEA, and its member institutions recommit to academic quality and integrity of purpose!
So, as we begin 2025 with great excitement and energy, know that CHEA is a collaborative partner. We will continue bringing the best constructive collaboration and the work of many to advocate for our member institutions and to ensure that the ultimate goals of academic quality and student success are achieved!
Impact of the 2024 Presidential Election on Accreditation
Sonny Ramaswamy, Ph.D.
President
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
The practice of accreditation as non-governmental, peer evaluation of educational institutions and programs was organized in America beginning in 1885, with the establishment of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, followed by the founding of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 1887, and the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1895. The Northwest Association of Colleges and Universities and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) were established in 1917 and 1924, respectively. WASC Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges was established in 1962. These accrediting bodies spun off accrediting high schools starting approximately two to three decades ago and now focus exclusively on accrediting colleges and universities.
Several federal actions, including passage of the GI Bill, the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, and creation in 1979 of the United States Department of Education (USDE), formalized federal oversight of accreditors and institutions of higher education. The National Advisory Committee for Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) was established in 1992 to advise the Secretary of Education on matters related to higher education and accreditation. All accreditors must undergo an extensive review undertaken by USDE staff analysts and intensive recognition process undertaken by NACIQI on a five-year basis.
Thus, accreditation of higher education, under federal oversight and with its checks and balances, has been around for decades. It continues to evolve as a result of congressional action and administrative negotiated rulemaking (NegReg). The HEA, which is supposed to be reauthorized approximately once every four to six years, has unfortunately not been reauthorized since 2008. During the last several years, each presidential administration has tweaked higher education and accreditation regulations through NegRegs or Executive Order. The higher education community, including accreditors and other interested parties, participate in the NegReg process, which takes time, after which the administration establishes the regulations.
In addition to federal oversight, many accreditors and institutions of higher education seek recognition by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which was established in 1996. CHEA advocates for the value and independence of accreditation.
Like its sister accreditors, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) has updated its Standards for Accreditation, Eligibility Requirements, Policies, and Procedures to be aligned with federal regulations. The focus of accreditation, undertaken with data- and evidence-informed approaches, continues to be: i) student achievement, learning, and success; ii) quality assurance; ii) continuous improvement; iv) accountability; and v) student eligibility for financial aid. The peer-evaluative system of accreditation is a critical promoter of innovations in American higher education.
If past history is any indication, the incoming administration will likely undertake an effort to revamp higher education and accreditation. Rather than focusing on what may or may not come to pass in the next few years, higher education and accreditation will and must focus on the compelling value proposition of student success and closing achievement gaps, because America needs a well-educated, informed, and contributing citizenry to ensure our Nation is internationally competitive and our democracy thrives. Happy New Year…Let us renew our commitment!
Impact of 2024 Election on Higher Education Accreditation
Eduardo M. Ochoa, Ph.D.
President Emeritus at California State University, Monterey Bay
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education
Higher education accreditation will face several potential challenges from the incoming Trump administration:
- Accreditation Reform. Through its control of the accreditor recognition process required for access to Federal student aid, the administration may be able to force changes to accrediting standards aimed at eliminating perceived ideological bias and promoting conservative educational priorities.
- Department of Education. Trump’s intent to eliminate the Department of Education would disrupt existing processes related to accreditation, recognition of accreditors, and disbursement of Federal financial aid.
- DEI. Diversity, equity, and inclusion has become a weaponized term, and institutions of higher education, as well as accreditors are under fire for allegedly divisive and stereotyping training practices and policies. Both will need to resist attacks on legitimate efforts to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments while addressing any legitimate concerns about weaker programs.
A more telling indicator may be the likely incoming Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon. Her statements on education have been more moderate, and her experience as a manager and in the Small Business Administration suggest that she will focus more on improving efficiencies and scaling back regulations and less on an aggressive anti-woke agenda. Moreover, as she finds the Department of Education’s funding an effective lever to promote change in education, she is likely to resist abolishing the Department. Nonetheless, over the next four years we face an uncertain and potentially turbulent environment for both higher education and its accrediting bodies.
Congressman Tim Walberg Selected to Lead House Education Committee
Jan Friis
Senior Vice President for Government Affairs
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Representative Tim Walberg (R-MI) was selected by the House Republican Steering Committee to chair the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for the 119th Congress. Congressman Walberg served 16 years on the Committee. He was selected over Representative Burgess Owens (R-UT). This selection will be voted on in the new Congress which is usually a formality.
In an interview with Politico, Walberg said he wants to bolster school choice, make college more affordable, boost apprenticeships and internships, pass a bipartisan short-term Pell Grant bill for workforce training programs, and reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
Members of the Committee have not yet been named; therefore, it is not yet known who the Sub-committee chairs will be, including the chair of the higher education subcommittee.
U.S. Department of Education
In December 2024 and early January 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced the termination of multiple negotiated rulemaking topics and published new rules on distance education and student financial aid.
On December 26, the USDE announced the termination of the negotiated rulemaking process for three program integrity and institutional quality issues: state authorization, cash management, and accreditation. Read more here.
The USDE published on January 3, 2025, new rules concerning distance education and the return of Title IV funds (R2T4). The final rules require additional reporting on distance education for students who receive federal financial aid. The USDE did not promulgate rules concerning asynchronous clock hour programs through distance education. Read more here.
There were additional USDE announcements, including the withdrawal of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams Withdrawal. Read more here.
Other USDE Announcements include Student Debt Relief: William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program, the Federal Perkins Loan Program, and the Health Education Assistance Loan Program Withdrawal. Read more here 2024-30605.pdf, and here 2024-30606.pdf.
2025 CHEA/CIQG Annual Conference
It’s Not Too Late to Register for This Month’s 2025 CHEA/CIQG Annual Conference
Join us later this month at the 2025 CHEA/CIQG Annual Conference scheduled for January 27-30, 2025, at The Westin Washington D.C. City Center Hotel in Washington, D.C. This year’s in-person event promises to build on the excitement and successes of last year’s Annual Conference. The theme for the four-day conference is “Quality Assurance in an Era of Change: Reflect, Reimagine, Recommit,” a powerful message that seeks to engage the global CHEA/CIQG community. Register now!